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Festival coverage

DOC NYC

10 November – 17 November 2016

Off The Rails
Off The Rails

America’s largest documentary festival has announced the full line-up for its seventh edition, running from November 10-17. The line-up includes 18 world premieres and 19 US premieres.

The festival will open with Matt Tyrnauer's Citizen Jane: Battle For The City and close with Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary, directed by John Scheinfeld.

In addition to the feature films below, there is a shorts programme.

Other years (12)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • City Of Joy
    Review preview for City Of Joy

    There are some truly horrific stories here, including several involving the rape of children, and some viewers will consequently find the film too distressing to watch. Its overall message, however, is one of empowerment and self-realisation.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A chronicle of resilience as female survivors of violence create a revolutionary community in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • Big Sonia
    Review preview for Big Sonia

    More than just a portrait of one woman's life or a remembrance of that awful time, Big Sonia is a film about history, how we carry it with us and why it matters.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A Holocaust survivor with an outsized personality faces her biggest fear: retirement.
  • Thy Father's Chair
    Review preview for Thy Father's Chair

    A humane film which, though it contains a lot of pain, points the way toward hope.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Orthodox Jewish identical twin hoarders finally allow a cleaning crew to save their Brooklyn home.
  • The Graduation
    Review preview for The Graduation

    The film shimmers and provokes where it is least expected.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
    A documentary about selection procedures at cinema school La Fémis in Paris.
  • Swim Team
    Review preview for Swim Team

    Its real achievement is the skill with which it balances its inspirational message with an honest portrait of day to day life and what it means to be an athlete.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    The Jersey Hammerheads is a competitive swim team made up of a diverse group of teens on the autism spectrum.
  • Citizen Jane: Battle For The City
    Review preview for Citizen Jane: Battle For The City

    This documentary fails to join the dots or link a past that still resonates with a controversial present.

    Jane Fae · 3 out of 5
    In the 1960s, writer and activist Jane Jacobs fights against NYC’s most ruthless power broker, Robert Moses, and his draconian urban redevelopment plans.
  • Letters From Baghdad
    Review preview for Letters From Baghdad

    As the voice of Gertrude, Tilda Swinton seductively pulls us in, reading her letters sent from afar.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
    The story of Gertrude Bell, who shaped the destiny of Iraq after the First World War.
  • David Lynch: The Art Life
    Review preview for David Lynch: The Art Life

    We get to watch Lynch work on a sculpture, sit and smoke, or interact with his toddler daughter Lula in the present. Family photos and home movies light up the past.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
    Documentary about the American filmmaker.
  • Tony Conrad: Completely In The Present
    Review preview for Tony Conrad: Completely In The Present

    Two things shine out from Tyler Hubby's documentary feature debut about filmmaker/composer and general avant-garde maverick Tony Conrad - the playfulness of the man himself and, in terms of his work, his bloody-minded patience.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    Documentary about groundbreaking avant-garde multimedia artist Tony Conrad, whose work in experimental film and video, music and sound art spans more than 50 years.
  • Girl Unbound: The War To Be Her
    Review preview for Girl Unbound: The War To Be Her

    Heidenreich’s shooting is economical and the editing tight, so that squash games are included to show Toorpakai’s abilities on the court and the support for her off it, without getting in the way of the bigger issues surrounding equal rights.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A young woman represents Pakistan on the national squash team, despite the Taliban's threats.

A–Z of DOC NYC 2016 reviews

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